Graduate Minor

Molecular and Cellular Biology

The Molecular and Cellular Biology Program provides students with comprehensive interdisciplinary training in molecular and cellular biology while reserving sufficient flexibility for students to specialize in their areas of interest. The elements of the core curriculum include courses in molecular genetics and cell structure and function, bioinformatics and genomics, scientific skills and ethics, along with research rotations with individual faculty members. Additional course work is custom-tailored to the individual student’s interests and needs. Each program requires 36 units of graduate-level course work, participation in seminar programs, two quarters of supervised teaching experience, written and oral preliminary examinations, supervision by an individual committee of five faculty members, and presentation of a thesis containing the results of publishable original research.

The program also offers access to all of the participating faculty as potential research advisors. Students do three research rotations in the first year and select their advisor from over 90 faculty members in the 20 participating departments in seven colleges. Therefore, the MCB Program lowers interdisciplinary barriers and allows the students to select the advisors that most closely match their interests after they have been on campus for one or more terms.